East Gaston comeback bid comes up short against Garinger

By Richard Walker

Published: Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 10:27 PM.

MOUNT HOLLY – The optimist would say East Gaston played with great heart and determination, even getting a last-second chance to force overtime despite losing its two top scorers for extended periods of time in Tuesday’s 64-61 home loss to Garinger.

The pessimist would say the Warriors (11-9, 4-6) missed an opportunity to wrap up the second N.C. 4A state playoff berth in the MEGA 7 3A/4A Conference.

Predictably, East Gaston coach Eugene Farrar was both pleased and disappointed in Tuesday’s effort against Garinger (7-14, 4-6).

“We played in spurts,” said Farrar, whose team visits longtime rival South Point on Friday in its final non-conference game of the year. “We just didn’t play in enough spurts.”

East Gaston fell behind 12-0 as it missed its first 12 shots and committed three turnovers in the first 5 1-2 minutes of the game.

Then, once the Warriors got themselves on the scoreboard, leading scorer Desean Murray was fouled with an elbow to his head severe enough to force a cut. The subsequent bleeding the injury caused led Murray to miss significant playing time, wear three different jerseys due to blood on the first two jerseys, and cost him the final frantic moments of East Gaston’s comeback bid.

If that wasn’t bad enough for the Warriors, starting point guard Elijah Gore suffered cramps throughout the contest and his playing time also was limited.

MOUNT HOLLY – The optimist would say East Gaston played with great heart and determination, even getting a last-second chance to force overtime despite losing its two top scorers for extended periods of time in Tuesday’s 64-61 home loss to Garinger.

The pessimist would say the Warriors (11-9, 4-6) missed an opportunity to wrap up the second N.C. 4A state playoff berth in the MEGA 7 3A/4A Conference.

Predictably, East Gaston coach Eugene Farrar was both pleased and disappointed in Tuesday’s effort against Garinger (7-14, 4-6).

“We played in spurts,” said Farrar, whose team visits longtime rival South Point on Friday in its final non-conference game of the year. “We just didn’t play in enough spurts.”

East Gaston fell behind 12-0 as it missed its first 12 shots and committed three turnovers in the first 5 1-2 minutes of the game.

Then, once the Warriors got themselves on the scoreboard, leading scorer Desean Murray was fouled with an elbow to his head severe enough to force a cut. The subsequent bleeding the injury caused led Murray to miss significant playing time, wear three different jerseys due to blood on the first two jerseys, and cost him the final frantic moments of East Gaston’s comeback bid.

If that wasn’t bad enough for the Warriors, starting point guard Elijah Gore suffered cramps throughout the contest and his playing time also was limited.

“We feel like all of our guys – if their number is called – will be ready,” Farrar said.

Many of those backups certainly gave a huge accounting of themselves on Tuesday, as eight Warriors broke into the scoring column even as Murray (18 points) and Gore (16) led East Gaston offensively.

And in the Warriors’ closing surge, Bailey Crane (11 points) and Kristian Harrington (six points) combined for 11 fourth-quarter points and Tyler Price’s 3-pointer gave East Gaston a chance to win.

Price’s 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left cut a Wildcats’ lead that had been 62-52 with 41.3 seconds left to the final 3-point margin. Then East Gaston’s defensive pressure forced a turnover on the inbounds attempt that gave the Warriors a final try to tie the score.

But center Jalen Nash’s 3-pointer from the right wing rimmed out at the buzzer, allowing Garinger to secure its third road win of the season.

“If we could’ve ever tied it up, it could’ve been a different outcome,” said Farrar, whose team never led but had possessions with a chance to tie in the second and fourth quarters. “We dug ourselves a big hole early and it was too hard to get out of it.”

Jamarkus Eason and Keith Davis had 14 points each, Kenny Vaughn 12 and 7-foot freshman center Raekwon Long 11 for Garinger. Long, who recently had a triple-double of points, rebounds and blocked shots, also had five rebounds and eight blocked shots on Tuesday.

“He is getting better and better,” Farrar said of Long, who had eight points when East Gaston won 68-66 at Garinger on Jan. 8 in their first meeting. “He was a lot more aggressive than the first time we saw him.”

Carly Kluttz (18 points) led a balanced offense that also got 10 points from Raven Brooks, nine from Brooklyn Armstrong and eight from Abbey Breakfield and Haley Hovis. All eight Lady Warriors scored points in the game.